


Becoming an Honorary Avenger

by Impala_Chick



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Battle of New York (Marvel), Boys Kissing, Competence Kink, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, M/M, POV Alternating, Stark Tower, Tony Stark is not an Avenger, Uneasy Allies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-17
Updated: 2020-05-17
Packaged: 2021-03-02 16:54:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24230152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Impala_Chick/pseuds/Impala_Chick
Summary: Even though Tony turned down Fury's offer to join the Avengers, he can't stay out of the fight when aliens start attacking New York.Steve isn't convinced that Tony is on their side once he finds out that Loki used Stark Tower to open up the portal.Steve and Tony collide, in more ways than one.
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Comments: 10
Kudos: 128
Collections: Captain America/Iron Man Reverse Bang 2020, Fandom Trumps Hate 2020





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [oluka (lomku)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lomku/gifts).
  * Inspired by [[Art] cap-im RBB 2020: Team Nomad](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24221044) by [oluka (lomku)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lomku/pseuds/oluka). 



> Check out the beautiful and inspiring art by Oluka! I'm so glad I was able to claim their art for the RBB. As soon I saw the first piece, I just knew I had to write a different first meeting fic.
> 
> Thank you so much to sofreakinmanyfandoms for the excellent beta work. I won their auction at Fandom Trumps Hate 2020 and I'm lucky I did!

  


It was probably a bad sign that the bad guy had picked his tower to set up shop, but there was nothing Tony could do about that at the moment. When the giant portal had opened up the sky and rained aliens down on New York, Tony had rushed back from Malibu and had been occupied with kicking Alien ass ever since.

He banked to the right to avoid colliding with a skyscraper. When he glanced behind him, he saw the alien hit the corner of the building and explode.

Interesting. It appeared that the aliens couldn’t turn sharply. 

“Jarvis, have you completed the tower scan?” Tony asked.

“Sir, there appear to be two people on the viewing deck, as well as some sort of machine pointed at the sky.”

“That does not sound good,” Tony grumbled. 

He was starting to think that having a team might not be such a terrible idea. Someone could take care of that machine while everyone else was busy protecting New York. He was having a hard time deciding which should be his priority.

He flew past the Hulk, who was jumping off of skyscrapers and grabbing aliens like some demented acrobat - it was really quite impressive. He couldn’t see Hawkeye or Black Widow, but he occasionally heard gunshots. He also noticed arrows sticking out the heads of some of the downed aliens that littered the streets.

He tried to steer clear of the Avengers altogether, because the last thing he needed was a physical confrontation. He had refused Fury’s offer to join up with his ragtag group of superheroes, and he suspected there could be hard feelings there. At the moment, New York needed all the help it could get. Tony didn’t have time for a lecture from any of them.

He couldn’t deny how much he looked like the bad guy. Fury and Natasha already considered him a narcissist with some serious daddy issues. Now there was a giant technological masterpiece pulling aliens from the sky, which just so happened to be located on the one tower in New York with his name on it. Fury, and possibly the rest of his minions, had likely jumped to conclusions. 

Tony blasted an oncoming alien off its stupid flying sled and zoomed forward to blast two more with his repulsors. He flew low, asking Jarvis to scan for civilians in trouble. His HUD told him there were two kids in the parking garage of a building to his right, with an alien advancing towards them. 

“Shit,” he swore, swooping low and landing on his feet just outside the garage.

He stepped into the remnants of the charred building, relying on JARVIS and his HUD to guide him through the wreckage. JARVIS told him the building was structurally sound enough to stay standing, but there were huge chunks of rubble and cracked stone pillars along his path. As he got closer, he could hear screams for help. One of the children was curled up on the floor, trying to hide her face. Tony rushed forward just as a large, dense object barreled into him.

“What the hell?” Tony hit the ground with a thud, but it wasn’t hard enough to knock the wind out of him. He jumped back up to see a blue and red clad man rushing past him. 

It took him a moment to comprehend what he was seeing. But it was undoubtedly Captain America, stooping to hoist both of the children into his arms. 

“Weird,” Tony thought, taking in the sight of his childhood hero. The Captain’s uniform looked almost exactly the same as when he had been just a comic book hero on a poster in Tony’s bedroom, even down to the old cowl. On most people, that cowl would have looked ridiculous, but Rogers wore the whole 1940s ensemble well. The man himself looked larger than life standing in front of Tony, staring him down while holding the kids. 

Tony had seen the footage of SHIELD recovering Steve Rogers’ frozen body; he had been keeping tabs on SHIELD ever since Fury started keeping tabs on him. Yet all of that unsanctioned surveillance had not prepared him for seeing the man in the flesh. 

Steve Rogers was tall and broad, every inch the hero, and streaked in dirt and grime from the battle so far. He appeared to be waiting for Tony to make the first move. For a moment, no one spoke. 

Tony didn’t have time for niceties, though. There was a huge alien just over Rogers’ shoulder, and it didn’t seem to give a shit who Captain America was. It’s large ugly teeth were bared, and it had a scythe in its hand. 

Tony raised his hand and pointed his repulsor at the alien.

He was close enough to see Rogers’s eyes widen with shock and something like revulsion. The living legend tightened his grip on the kids and bolted for the door. Tony sighed, disappointed how quickly Rogers had judged him.

“Never meet your heroes,” he muttered to himself as he unleashed white hot energy into the alien’s chest. After it crumpled to the ground, Tony glanced over his shoulder at Rogers’s retreating form. The man never looked back, so Tony stepped out of the garage and launched back into the air. There was work to be done, after all. He didn’t have time to worry about what a terrible first impression he’d just made. Clearly the time for talking out their differences had passed.

+

Steve ducked under a chitauri blast and rushed toward the police cordone with two children in his arms, silently hoping Iron Man wasn’t following them. He had made it obvious that he wasn’t interested in working with Steve or the Avengers, and if he wanted to pursue them, he could have easily done so. Steve thankfully made it to the nearest checkpoint without incident and carefully handed the children to a police officer before checking in with his team.

“This is Cap. What have we got?”

“Hawkeye here. Still firing arrows, but running low. Looks like they can’t bend corners very well.”

“Widow checking in. I have eyes on Hulk. He’s currently scaling a building. Also, I just saw Stark.”

“And?” Steve prompted. He felt the need to ask, since Natasha had met Tony Stark before. Maybe Nat knew more about Stark’s current motives. She’d been scant on the details about her previous mission involving Stark, but apparently she’d gone undercover in his company. Fury had extended Stark an offer to join the Avengers, and Stark had turned it down. 

Once Steve had been unfrozen, he’d read as much about Tony Stark as he could. He had hoped Howard’s kid could be a bridge from the past - someone who could help Steve learn about the things that had changed since he’d been frozen. That turned out not to be possible because Stark turned down Fury’s offer to become an Avenger.

Natasha claimed that Iron Man was one of the good guys, but Steve wasn’t so convinced. Why would someone who appreciates stability and highly advanced technology not want to be a part of an organization like SHIELD? Steve worried that there was some darker purpose behind Stark’s decision. When the Chitauri chose Stark Tower to set up shop, the coincidence seemed too great. 

“He’s firing at the aliens. I doubt he’s the leader of an alien race, Steve. I’m heading to the tower.” Nat sounded out of breath. 

“Roger. I’ll meet you there.” Steve grabbed the shield from his back and darted through the streets of New York, his trip interrupted each time he came across a grounded group of aliens. There weren’t as many Chitauri on the ground as there were flying through the air, but he did what he could with his shield. If the flying bastards were in range, he knocked them out of the sky and took them down. 

The Chitauri’s strategy didn’t make any logical sense. It seemed to be nothing more than a huge shock and awe campaign. They were flying around New York trying to destroy as many buildings and people as they could. Steve couldn’t discern any particular targets.

What he did know was that all of the chitauri were coming out of the portal in the sky. The only way to cut off their never-ending back up was to turn off the portal, but there was no way to ascertain how to close it without seeing what was controlling it. That meant getting to Stark Tower. 

Steve was hauling ass down the streets of New York, and he had the tower in his sights when a streak of red caught his eye. Iron Man flew over Steve’s left shoulder in the direction of the tower.

Steve did not need Stark interfering in the mission - especially when Steve didn’t know where the man’s allegiances lay. He heaved his shield in an arc and watched as it struck Iron Man in the boot. Stark’s flight pattern careened dramatically, but he managed to land on his feet just ahead. 

“Stand down, Iron Man. I order you to - ,” Steve shouted, advancing on him slowly. 

“Seriously?” Stark grumbled, interrupting him. To Steve’s surprise, he then raised his repulsor and shot Steve in the chest. Steve was knocked off his feet in the blink of an eye, his body thrown through the ground floor of a hollowed-out building. 

Steve blinked the dust from his eyes and lifted his head. He could see Stark standing over him with his repulsor still up, ready to blast him again. 

Steve took a shuddering breath in order to speak. He groaned and shoved his arm under himself to sit up. They were wasting time. “Stay out of the way, Stark. We have a mission to complete.”

“I don’t like being told what to do,” Stark said as he stared down at Steve.

“So I’ve heard. But I need to get to that tower, and you’re going to let me go.”

“What makes you so sure?” Stark’s voice had that mechanical tinge to it that made it difficult to discern emotion, but he sounded more amused than sinister. Which was surprising. 

“Natasha says you’re one of the good guys,” Steve said as he pushed himself the rest of the way to his feet. 

“I wouldn’t believe everything _Natalie_ says,” Stark said. By his tone, Steve guessed he was referring to a code name, but it didn’t matter much at the moment. Steve put up his fists, read to fight his way out if necessary, since Tony was blocking the way out of the building. They stood like that, staring at each other, for a few breaths. Steve was contemplating just trying to walk past him when Tony powered down his repulsor and turned his hand over, as if expecting a handshake.

“Want a lift?” 

Steve hesitated for a moment. That was not what he expected Iron Man to say. 

He knew that flying with Stark would be significantly faster than trying to figure out where the elevator or the stairs were located. He could run quickly if he had to take the stairs, but Stark could absolutely fly faster. The only real risk was if Stark dropped him while up in the air, but Steve could live with that risk so long as he was the only one in harm’s way.

Steve had known Howard, and Howard was no killer. Besides, Stark hadn’t tried to hurt those kids earlier when he had an opportunity to pursue them. Nat had seen him killing the aliens. And Steve had intel that Stark had been in Malibu when this whole thing started. 

Steve went with his gut. 

“Fine.” Steve begrudgingly took Stark’s outstretched hand.

It was a little disconcerting that he couldn’t see Stark's facial expressions as he grabbed the suit’s arm. Iron Man pulled him against his red metal chest. Steve didn’t even have time to ask how they were doing this before Iron Man grabbed the back of Steve’s knees and lifted him up into a bridal carry. 

Iron Man lifted from the ground in one smooth motion, and they were airborne. They passed floor after floor of the glass tower in record time, Iron Man’s metal grip tight around Steve’s legs and shoulders. Steve felt weightless. He also felt very thankful that they made it to the top of the tower without being dropped.

+

Considering his fighting abilities, Tony knew the right thing to do was to bring Cap to the tower with him. If they went to the top of the tower as a team, Rogers might be an asset when they faced whoever or _whatever_ was up there waiting for them. No reason to waste a perfectly good opportunity to team up. At least Tony could be sure what side Cap was fighting for.

Holding Rogers in his arms made him more real than he’d been minutes ago when Tony had met him for the first time, and the reality of the whole situation started to set in. Captain America was a flesh and blood human, even though he was pretty spry for an old guy. Aliens were real, there was nothing the Government could do, and New Yorkers were dying. Time to let go of any hope of other heroes showing up to save the day.

As soon as Tony cleared the tower, he could see the device beaming a stream of blue energy skyward. A glowing blue cube was the base of the device, seemingly powering it, and there was an old man staring at a computer screen connected to the whole contraption.

Steve was already talking into his earpiece before Tony set him down. Black Widow stepped out onto the landing pad to meet them. Tony couldn’t hear what they were saying, but it didn’t matter to him anyway. He had to take his shot now, while there were seemingly few enemies around.

“Get clear!” He shouted, before pointing his repulsor at the portal and firing. A blue shock wave of energy reverberated and knocked him back a good twenty feet.

“The barrier is pure energy. It’s unbreachable,” JARVIS said in his ear. 

“Yeah, got that,” Tony huffed. He stepped onto the landing platform and walked forward so that his suit was taken off of him piece by piece as he walked. 

“Loki, power this thing down,” he heard the Widow shout. He turned to the right and saw a figure in a black and green cloak had joined them on the landing pad. He was holding a gold scepter with shiny blue light trapped within it. Huh. That must be Thor’s brother, the chaotic god he’d seen so much written about in the SHIELD database.

Tony kept on walking until he was behind his bar. He glanced up and noticed that Rogers and Widow were engaging Loki. With no one paying attention to him, he slipped on the two bracelets that could call the Mach 7 armor to him.

“Sir, the Mach 7 is not ready for deployment,” Jarvis said. 

“Then skip the spinning rims; we are on the clock.” 

It was either going to work or it wasn’t, and Tony was out of ideas. His other suit was damaged because of the aliens and Cap’s shield, and he didn’t know how much longer they were going to have to beat back the currently uncontainable alien horde. 

Tony stepped out from behind the bar and called out to Loki. “I think you should probably listen to those two. The might of a huge government organization is behind them, et cetera.” 

Loki paused with his fist up in the air, hovering over Natasha’s prone form. 

“You’re too late. My army is already doing its worst.” Loki raised an eyebrow at Tony, a smug smirk plastered on his face. 

Tony glanced over and saw Rogers reach for his earpiece with his eyes wide. He looked slightly panicked, which seemed out of character for a notoriously level headed legend.

“There’s no version of this where you come out on top,” Tony said, walking towards Loki. Natasha was struggling to stand, her face pinched in pain. 

“It seems that you are not in a position to bargain with me,” Loki growled, his eyes locked on Tony’s. 

“I’m not going to bargain with you.” Tony scoffed. Loki was fast approaching him now, and Tony didn’t think his banter was going to keep Loki engaged for much longer. 

Lucky for him, the green smashing giant himself chose that moment to burst through the elevator shaft. 

“But let me introduce you to Hulk,” Tony added with a grin, holding back his sigh of relief. 

Loki glanced over at the ruckus, and laughed, definitely underestimating the situation. But Tony had read SHIELD’s specs on Hulk. In his green form, he was nearly unstoppable. Loki was upon Tony already, though. 

“I’m really tired of hearing you prattle on,” Loki declared, grabbing Tony’s arm and forcefully flinging him out the window.

Tony heard Cap shout his name as he fell, but there was no time to answer him. Shattered glass rained down and glittered like gems in the sunlight. Tony focused on turning himself around on his stomach so that he was falling as flat as possible, and then hailed the Mach 7. He hoped the suit would work. It had to.

+

Steve looked on in horror. Loki had acted so quickly that Steve had no time to catch Iron Man. Almost the moment after the glass broke, there was a crash as a shiny metal case burst from the far wall. It whizzed through the broken glass window that Stark had just fallen through.

Steve hoped that was Stark’s back-up plan. He didn’t have a parachute, the Quinjet was too far away, and no one present could fly.

He reached down to grab Nat’s elbow and help her up. Glancing over, he watched Hulk handily dealing with Loki, tossing him around like a rag doll. Steve would have felt markedly better about their chances of winning if their situation hadn’t gotten a whole more dire in the last thirty seconds. The information he’d received over the comms was just about the worst news imaginable. 

“So what are we going to do about the nuke?” Natasha asked bluntly. 

Steve winced. Fury had told them they had incoming over the comms just before Iron Man was thrown out the window. Their own government was firing on them, ready to sacrifice New York to destroy the alien threat.

He repeatedly tried hailing Fury on comms, but the man wasn’t answering. Their last hope was that SHIELD was either busy calling the government or hacking the nuke. Steve was at a loss for what else to do.

Nat stooped down and picked up Loki’s scepter as Steve stood, frozen. There was no back up plan for an incoming nuclear weapon.

“What’s this about a nuke?” someone asked in a tinny voice. Steve looked towards the voice, and saw Iron Man hovering in the air outside the glass window. 

“Tony?” Steve asked, his body sagging with relief upon seeing him again. He’d successfully created his own safety plan and saved himself, even when the Avengers failed him. Even though Stark was no Avenger, he was no ordinary civilian either. 

This revelation was quickly overshadowed by the thought of the Avengers hurtling towards failing the larger mission. “An American nuclear missile is headed for New York. They aren’t responding -” Steve didn’t even get to finish his statement before Iron Man took off like a rocket. Steve blinked, confused. Maybe Steve had originally been right about Stark, because it appeared as if he'd just bailed on them.

Nat rushed out onto the platform with Loki’s scepter in her grip, sparing a moment to glance over her shoulder at Steve.

“I think this will close it,” she yelled. “I have to try.”

“But that won’t stop the nuke,” Steve shouted back as he scrambled to think of something. “Just wait a minute.”

He stepped out onto the platform and stared at the machine. He tried not to let hopelessness overwhelm him, because then he wouldn’t be able to think clearly.

Nat paused with the scepter raised, waiting. 

Steve was looking up when he noticed the unmistakable red metal suit soaring above them, carrying a very large nuclear weapon. And flying straight into the portal.

“Holy shit,” Natasha breathed.

Steve didn’t disagree. 

He had had no idea that Iron Man had the strength to not only grab onto but also redirect a nuclear missile into the portal itself. Steve was momentarily awed by the power and the moral courage Stark was displaying.

“What about the portal?” Natasha asked, pulling Steve’s attention to the scepter. 

Steve’s mind whirred. What if the nuclear missile just fell back out of the open portal, and Stark's effort went to waste? What if the missile went off just inside the portal and a cloud of nuclear waste still descended on New York City? If they closed it, Stark would be trapped inside that portal, but Steve didn’t even know if Iron Man could survive the missile detonating anyway. 

Stark had made his choice, had put himself on the line for all of New York. Surely he wouldn’t want them to dishonor his sacrifice by risking failure.

“Nat,” Steve started to say. He kept scanning the sky, hoping for any type of sign. After a breath or two, he caught a glimpse of the Iron Man's red metal-clad body, just at the edge of the portal.

“Close it,” he commanded. Nat touched the point of the scepter to the spinning blue cube, and the beam of blue light abruptly dissipated. 

Steve watched as the yawning blue and black opening in the sky stitched itself together.

“Guys? Something happened. The Chitauri just dropped. Like they aren’t functional any more,” Clint was shouting through comms, but Steve’s eyes were on Stark, tumbling through the sky like he didn’t have any control of his descent.

“Thor, catch Stark,” he yelled into the comms, hoping Thor could hear him.Tony had made it back after choosing to save them all. The least they could do was save him now, when he needed them.

“Wait, Iron Man?” Clint sounded confused in Steve’s ear.

Thor answered. “I see him, Captain.” Steve was keeping his eyes on Iron Man’s rapidly descending form, holding his breath. He inhaled sharply once he saw Thor’s cape flutter in the air and intercept Stark’s body. 

“Bring him to the tower,” Steve ordered in the comms.

Thor redirected and landed neatly on the landing pad. When he gently laid Stark on the ground, Steve quickly dropped to his knees and ripped off the face mask. Steve leaned over him and checked his pulse. He wasn’t breathing. 

“Damnit,” Steve cursed. It wasn’t fair that after everything Stark did, he wouldn’t get to see their victory. He felt his chest tightening up with pain and frustration.

The Hulk came up behind Steve and looked down at Iron Man’s prone form. A frown flickered across his face before he screamed loud enough to wake half of New York. His loud roar shook the ground. Deathly silence descended upon the group, until, miraculously, Stark inhaled sharply and opened his eyes.

“Please tell me no one kissed me,” he said on a shaky exhale as he glanced up at Steve, bent over his body. 

Steve shook his head slightly in disbelief, the tension in his chest unfurling to make way for the relief flooding him.

“Well?” Stark prompted, sounding dazed. Steve met his eyes. Stark looked exhausted after using all of his strength to do what had to be done. They never would have won without him.

“We won,” Steve said simply. “And it was because of you.”

“Don’t tell Fury about what I did. He’ll realize his predictions about me were right and his head will get even bigger,” Tony bemoaned, his lips lifting up into a small a smile.

Thor laughed. “This one is funny! I like him!” 

That got the rest of them laughing, and it was a welcome respite from all of the chaos that had been unleashed. Adrenaline was still coursing through him, but Steve felt light. He couldn’t look away from Stark’s tired smile as he slowly got to his feet. Steve put a hand at his elbow to help him up. 

He was wrong to ever have doubted Tony Stark.


	2. Chapter 2

The New York recovery effort was a full time job, but SHIELD and the Avengers were up to the task. Steve led daily patrols to recover Chitauri technology and aid in rescue or rebuild wherever they could.

Tony was running his own kind of investigation and recovery effort. Steve often saw Tony patrolling the streets of New York, either honing in on the same piece of technology or showing up at the same rescue sites, so Steve was getting frustrated that Tony didn’t want to make a more formal arrangement with the team. They could be combining their resources instead of wasting their time chasing each other’s tails. 

At least they were on much friendlier terms. 

“You sure we can’t help each other out?” Steve needled as they sat near a relief tent, taking a break after reclaiming a Chitauri sled from a wayward civilian. This was at least the fifth time Steve had asked. Tony flipped back his face mask and took the water bottle Steve handed to him.

“What? SHIELD just isn’t cutting it these days?” Tony asked with a grin before taking a sip.

“At least let us get on the same radio channel. We should be communicating with each other.”

“If you want my number, Cap, just ask.” Tony raised an eyebrow before flipping his face mask back down, and Steve scoffed. He didn’t know whether Tony was joking, but that didn’t stop his body from reacting to Tony’s words. He felt his face heating up.

“Meet me at the Tower. I’ll show you around.” Tony launched into the air after that, leaving Steve a little thunderstruck. That was not what Steve expected to hear. He'd lost hope of Tony wanting anything to do with him. Steve had hoped that maybe they could share comms access, possibly some intel. Now it seemed that Tony was going to open his doors for Steve. He wasn’t going to miss his opportunity to get to know Tony better. 

After making the walk over, Steve found himself standing in the Stark Tower elevator shoulder to shoulder with Tony, who was wearing a simple black tracksuit that was perfectly tailored to fit. Steve didn't stare, but he couldn't help but sneak a few glances. Tony in a tight fitting tracksuit was very different from Tony in the Iron Man suit. He was surprisingly shorter than Steve, which did nothing to make Tony less attractive.

The elevator dinged and the doors slid open to reveal a hallway. Tony led the way through the first door on the right. Inside was an extremely modern office space with several flat screen monitors and a huge table. A woman with long red hair and wearing a white pant suit was standing at the table scrutinizing a stack of documents.

Tony must have noticed Steve’s surprised expression, because he looked over and said, “You didn’t think I ran this place alone, did you?” 

“I know who Ms. Potts is,” Steve said. “It’s an honor to meet you.” He had heard all about her work with Stark Industries. He just hadn’t expected to meet her. He tried to smooth down his dirty uniform awkwardly before sticking out his hand.

“Ms. Pepper Potts, meet Steve Rogers.”

The woman shook Steve’s outstretched hand with grace and poise.

Tony walked over to the other side of the table, and then held a finger up as if asking Steve to wait. “This is what I wanted to show you, Cap.” Tony flicked his wrist and waved his hand over the table, and a 3-D model of a tower popped up. It was made of blue and green lights, but it looked exactly like… 

“Stark Tower?” Steve asked. “I already know what it looks like.”

“Hold on.” Tony rubbed his palms together and then stretched them apart. The model seemed to split apart, and one floor in particular was magnified. Steve leaned in closer. He could see several rooms, all different. There was one room that looked like a gun range, with targets at one end. There was a room with punching bags and floor mats, and other rooms with huge beds and walk in closets lined one hallway.

“What is this?” Steve asked, confused. “Don’t get me wrong, Tony, this model is great but I’m not sure what this has to do with the Avengers.”

Tony grinned and leaned his hip against the table. “I’m building this floor for each of you to stay, if you wanted to. I figured you guys could use something a little more homey. I’ve hacked into SHIELD’s surveillance footage and I know that place is a dump.” Tony expanded the 3-D image even more. “I even designed gym equipment that can withstand the might of the Avengers. You’ll have everything you could need.”

Steve’s mouth dropped open. He couldn’t help it. The intricate designs were impressive and basically tailor-made for super soldiers. This was not at all what he expected from Tony.

“Tony, I could barely get you to talk to us before. This whole time, you’ve been building this?” 

Tony shrugged, a sly smile on his face. “I’m rebuilding anyway. Think of it as a little gift from me to all of you, as thanks for saving my city.”

“Tony, you deserve the credit for that,” Steve said with a firm shake of his head.

Instead of acknowledging Steve’s statement, Tony pushed off from the table and turned towards the window. “Just think about it, okay? Tell the others, too. We could coordinate our search for Chitauri tech better if you stayed in Manhattan instead of going back to SHIELD HQ. Plus, I can keep an eye on you this way.”

“Ah, so there is something in it for you,” Steve mused.

“I’ll be straight with you. I don’t trust SHIELD, Cap. And I think you might want to help me dig. You can’t do that from SHIELD HQ, though.” Tony paced in front of the window as the pieces started to click into place for Steve. If Tony was suspicious of SHIELD, maybe there was something to that suspicion. After all, Tony had given Steve every reason to trust him so far. 

Steve looked over at Pepper, who was still rifling through the paperwork in front of her. She looked up and met his eyes with a bemused smirk.

“I told him I wasn’t sure if he should tell you, but he’s convinced you’re trustworthy, Steve,” Pepper said bluntly. 

Steve wasn’t sure how to respond. Tony’s generosity was a little shocking, still. Even if his motives were purely related to intel.

“Any other conditions?” Steve asked.

Tony looked over his shoulder at Steve. “Don’t expect me to become an Avenger.” 

“Deal.” Steve replied easily as he crossed his arms and leaned against the table. “But for the record, you would make an excellent Avenger.”

Tony scrunched up his face in disagreement and gestured out the doorway. “Don’t mock me, Rogers.”

“I would never,” Steve said with a laugh. 

Tony started towards the door, so Steve turned to Pepper. “Lovely to meet you, Ms. Potts.” 

“Likewise. I hope I see you around,” she replied as she turned her attention back to the table. Steve pushed off from the table to follow Tony.

Once they stepped into the elevator, Steve considered the man standing next to him. Tony had extended a hand and laid the groundwork for a partnership, and Steve really wanted to make this relationship work. He could tell Tony was someone worthy of being on their team. And Steve could admit that he liked being around him, too. But this seemed like such a quick shift in perspective. 

“You never wanted to be an Avenger. Back during the battle, I thought you were trying to kill me. But now you’re opening your home to us.”

Tony raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms, as if asking _So what?_

“I genuinely want to know what changed your mind. Do you have actual evidence of something going on at SHIELD?” Steve pressed.

“I like… I like all of you, is the thing. You’re all really great people, you want to do the right thing.” Tony paused, searching Steve’s face. “But I really can’t trust Fury. He knew my Dad, Cap. He told me that my Dad wanted to leave me some sort of legacy, but he didn’t leave me shit. So I started surveillance on all SHIELD systems, monitoring their comms. And SHIELD has a bunch of dark ops stuff going on. Missions they keep secret from you and the rest of your team. It doesn’t make any sense.”

“I knew Howard, too, you know.” Steve couldn’t help but point out. “And government organizations have different departments. I don’t necessarily know everything.”

“Yeah, but I get… bad vibes, Cap. There’s more going on there.”

“Call me Steve, please. I’m only Cap at work,” Steve said. The elevator doors dinged and then slid open.

“Fine, Steve. You have a cell phone?” Tony asked as he shoved his hands in his pockets and glanced down at his shoes.

“Yes, as a matter of fact.” Steve stepped out of the elevator. When Tony didn’t follow him out, Steve turned to face him.

Tony pulled his hand out of his pocket and produced a slightly crumpled business card. “Well, here’s my number. In case you want to take me up on my offer.”

Tony licked his bottom lip, and Steve tracked the movement of his tongue. It was silent for a beat as Steve stood there, assessing Tony. He’d made the choice to be honest and upfront with Steve, to let Steve in on whatever Tony was working on. Steve felt flattered, in a way. Tony was famous and rich, with unfathomable resources at his disposal. But he’d come to Steve. Surely that meant something. 

Steve took the card. 

“Thank you, Tony. For believing in me.”

“You make it hard not to. Steve.” Tony nodded a goodbye with his eyes glittering. Steve couldn’t look away from that dazzling smile, so he just stood there like a dummy until the elevator doors slid shut. 

Afterwards, Steve couldn’t help but think that there’d been a moment there when Tony had looked Steve up and down - and liked what he’d seen. It made Steve’s skin tingle with excitement just thinking about that moment. 

Maybe he oughta do something about that.

+

Tony was surprised how well everything had been working out so far. Steve took to staying over in the tower during the work week or whenever he had a late night working in Manhattan, which led to Clint staying over during the week too. It was easy after that to get Bruce to stay and make use of his custom lab. Natasha was not as easy to persuade, but once Clint told her about the custom shooting range, she started to come around, too. 

When Pepper teased him for “buying” new friends, he didn’t outright deny it. Seeing Steve more often had several perks, so he had no regrets.

He was surprised to find that the Avengers hardly talked to Fury at all. Sometimes they took advantage of SHIELD equipment or the Quinjet, and there were a couple of times that Natasha and Clint left in the dead of night on top secret missions, but even on those occasions, Steve was the central hub for all of them. He regularly checked in with his teammates, and he coordinated the various rescue and recovery operations they undertook. They acted like a genuine team instead of just Fury’s personal minions. Steve even started to include Tony in some of their ops planning, at least when it came to the confines of Manhattan.

Nothing new came up from his SHIELD monitoring. Maybe Fury was onto him, or SHIELD was lying low now that the Avengers were working with him. But Tony kept his ears to the ground, so to speak. Cap was still going over the dossier Tony had given him with his past research, but Tony looked forward to hearing his perspective. 

What Tony found really frustrating about Steve’s leadership ability, at least from a purely selfish standpoint, was that it was just one more thing that made Captain America a total walking wet dream. With no alien invasions or catastrophic emergencies to focus on, Tony had plenty of time to dream about Steve Rogers. And Steve hardly wore his uniform around the tower. Instead, he wore tight fitting slacks that highlighted his firm ass and t-shirts that highlighted the width of his biceps. He was exposed to a whole different side to the Captain, which gave Tony a new arsenal of mental images to replace the old, dried-out fantasies of his youth.

It had only been a few months, and Tony really didn’t want to do anything to make Steve uncomfortable or jeopardize their working relationship, so he resolutely made a decision not to make a move. This was so unlike what he would have done only a few years earlier that he was surprised with himself. Maybe he was growing up after all. Maybe Steve just had that effect on people.

That self restraint meant that Tony was more on edge then he’d like to admit. He'd had plenty of late nights in the past, but they'd been more frequent as of late. 

Tony stumbled into the elevator and asked JARVIS to take him to the main kitchen. He was feeling jittery and wired from being up so long, so he hoped grabbing a snack might even himself out a bit and help him get to sleep. He’d been up fiddling with a new arrow design for Clint, which had turned into considering new suit designs for Steve, and before he knew it, it was 3 in the morning.

When he walked into the kitchen, the light was already on. Steve was peering into the toaster, his hands gripping the counter as he waited. His hair looked wet from a shower, and he was wearing gray sweatpants and a soft looking red t-shirt that stretched across his broad shoulders. Tony cleared his throat, not wanting to stand there too long just staring. Steve startled a bit and then turned around. 

“Hey, what are you doing up?” Steve asked, his voice concerned.

“Was thinking about getting a snack. You?” Tony opened the fridge and peered inside to keep from staring at the way Steve’s hair hung down on his forehead. He hadn’t gelled it, and it looked so soft.

“Just got back from a patrol; haven’t eaten anything yet,” Steve said. “You know, it’s actually looking pretty calm out there.”

Tony shut the fridge without pulling anything out, and leaned his hip against the kitchen counter. He ran a hand through his own messy hair and tugged at the white tank top he was wearing. It was probably covered in grease, just like the rest of him, but he tried not to dwell on how dishevelled he probably looked.

“Yeah? Running out of fights, Rogers?” 

Steve huffed a laugh. “I just think we might be needed more elsewhere. I think New York is nearly back on its feet.”

“Oh,” Tony said slowly. “So you guys won’t be around as much?” Tony tried not to sound too disappointed. He had known this arrangement couldn’t last forever when he had extended his offer.

“I’m not saying we can’t work together,” Steve said as he stepped closer to Tony. “I just don’t know if SHIELD will let us keep doing what we’re doing.”

Tony looked up at Steve, who was smiling softly. Steve reached out and put a hand on Tony’s shoulder.

“And even though you didn’t want to be an Avenger...” Steve started. His eyes looked like they were on Tony’s lips, and Tony felt a shiver run through his body. He held his breath. “I think you’ve become an honorary one anyway.”

“Jesus Christ,” Tony breathed out unconsciously, because the heat in Steve’s gaze was nearly overwhelming. Steve moved in then and pressed his lips to Tony’s. Tony’s arm snaked around Steve’s waist, and his heart beat double time in his chest. He felt Steve’s presence strong and sure against him. The kiss was sweet and sincere, just a flick of Steve’s tongue to let Tony know that he was tempted to deepen it.

“What was that for?” Tony blurted out as Steve pulled back a bit. The space between them was filled with Steve’s heavy breathing. 

“You’re a hero, Tony. Even if you don’t want to be,” he replied roughly. 

“Damn, you sure know how to woo a guy.” Tony tried for teasing, but his voice was a little breathless.

“Say that I’ll still get to see you, after the Avengers have to leave New York City.” Steve moved his hand to cup Tony’s cheek, and Tony thought that was just not fair. 

“Wow, Steve. Using your wiles to bribe me seems a little beneath you,” he said, thankful he at least had enough brain cells left to use sarcasm. Tony could feel Steve’s touch, warm on his cheek, and he leaned into it. 

Steve ducked his head and his cheeks reddened, making Tony feel a little bad about embarrassing him. He had to admit, though, that the flush looked good on Steve’s near perfect skin. Tony was floored that Steve had been the one to seize an opportunity and make a move. It must have been Tony's lucky day. He let the desire bubble up within him instead of holding it back. He was nearly trembling from the heady rush that Steve’s earnest and appraising look was giving him.

“Move into the tower,” Tony said on an impulse, biting his kiss-swollen lip.

Steve’s eyes widened. “Really?”

“Yeah, I mean you practically live here anyway. Just bring the rest of your stuff over.” Tony grinned, liking the idea more and more. Steve could really have a place to call home. Tony would get to see him after missions. They’d monitor SHIELD together. It would be Steve and Tony against the world.

Steve searched his face with an eyebrow raised. “That’s a funny way of asking me to date you,” Steve said gruffly before he leaned in again. 

Tony’s breath caught in his throat. Oh, right. Maybe he skipped a step or two. He didn’t have time to backtrack, though. Not with Steve’s lips on his, deepening the kiss. Tony moaned low in his throat, and Steve silenced him with his tongue. Tony pressed back against him until they were both breathless. 

When Tony came up for air, Steve rested his lips at Tony’s temple. His soft breathing tickled Tony’s ear. Tony could feel Steve’s large hands gripping him tightly, like he never wanted to let go. It all seemed too good to be true.

“Is this some sly plan to get me to become an Avenger?” Tony asked, half joking but half serious.

“Probably better if you don’t join, considering that dating your boss is generally frowned upon,” Steve teased. He leaned back against the kitchen counter, moving his hands to Tony’s lower back and pulling him close again.

Tony huffed a laugh, surprised by Steve’s wit. Tony would have said something just as witty in return, except his mouth was otherwise occupied.

**Author's Note:**

> Please consider a [reblog on tumblr](https://impalachick.tumblr.com/post/618384842700341248/oluka-this-is-my-first-submission-for-the#notes).


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